Early indications for the construction industry in the upcoming general election, JCT publishes the new Design and Build 2024 contracts, new second staircase requirement for qualifying residential buildings and a recent judgment requiring strict compliance with notice provisions in some building contracts
General election announced for 4 July 2024
In an eagerly-awaited and significant decision, the Supreme Court, in R (on the application of PACCAR Inc and others) v Competition Appeal Tribunal and others [2023] UKSC 28 (“PACCAR”), held, on 26 July 2023, that litigation funding agreements (“LFAs”) under which a litigation funder receives a percentage of any damages recovered by the claimant are damages-based agreements (“DBAs”) within the meaning of section 58AA of the Courts and Legal Services Act 190 (“CLSA”).
If a company becomes insolvent, it is crucial that its directors comply with their legal duties. Failure to do so can result in personal liability for the company’s debts as well as legal action and disqualification from being a company director or being involved in a company in the future.
We look at exactly what a director’s duties on company insolvency are and some of the risks to be aware of in dealing with an insolvency.
What is insolvency?
Following the UK Supreme Court decision in Sequana1 at the end of 2022, the New Zealand Supreme Court has now weighed in on the issue of the duties owed by directors of a company in the zone of insolvency in a long-running case involving the liquidation estate of Mainzeal Property and Construction Limited.2
Key Takeaways
In welcome news for insolvency practitioners, the Supreme Court has limited the circumstances in which a dissatisfied bankrupt will have standing to challenge a trustee in bankruptcy's decisions or actions under section 303(1) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (Act), to those where there is likely to be a surplus in the bankruptcy estate (subject to only very limited exceptions). The Supreme Court acknowledged that, while this decision is about bankruptcy, the reasoning will also apply to challenges to liquidators' decisions under section 168(5) of the Act.
In welcome news for insolvency practitioners, the Supreme Court has limited the circumstances in which a dissatisfied bankrupt will have standing to challenge a trustee in bankruptcy's decisions or actions under section 303(1) of the Insolvency Act 1986 (Act), to those where there is likely to be a surplus in the bankruptcy estate (subject to only very limited exceptions). The Supreme Court acknowledged that, while this decision is about bankruptcy, the reasoning will also apply to challenges to liquidators' decisions under section 168(5) of the Act.
In this edition of Gilbert + Tobin's Corporate Advisory Update, we focus on key legal developments over the last month which are particularly relevant to in-house counsel.
The ACCC’s recommended merger reforms: a deeper dive
The ACCC’s recommended reforms have several significant implications for merging parties:
Litigation between Mr and Mrs Brake, Axnoller Events Ltd and various other parties has been the subject of a significant number of judgments covering a wide range of legal issues. The underlying facts are convoluted but can be briefly summarised for the purpose of the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Brake & Anor v The Chedington Court Estate Ltd [2023] UKSC 29 as follows.
The U.K. Financial Services and Markets Act 2023
The High Court has considered the point at which the directors’ duty to consider the interests of creditors arose in the context of a tax mitigation scheme that ultimately failed
The judge found that the duty to consider creditors’ interests had arisen once the directors had become aware that there was a real risk that the scheme would fail and that the company would therefore be unable to pay its debts.